Pascal glad to hand over ring spotlight
The normally flashy Jean Pascal is glad to leave centre stage to his stablemate Adonis Stevenson for his next appearance in a boxing ring.
Former light heavyweight champion Pascal (27-2-1) just wants to get the job done when he faces 39-year-old George (Honey Boy) Blades (23-4-0) at the Bell Centre on Sept. 28 in what should be a tune-up bout for his longawaited showdown with rival Lucian Bute in January.
The bout will be the co-feature to Stevenson’s first defence of his WBC light heavyweight title against former IBF champion Tavoris Cloud.
“Honestly, I like my situation now,” Pascal said Thursday. “I’m not in the spotlight.
“I don’t need to sell tickets. I don’t need to put on a show. Stevenson is in the limelight now. I just have to do my stuff and box well.”
There may be a layer of rust left on the canvas when Pascal, who has fought only once in each of the last two years, faces Blades, who has had two bouts since 2008.
The quick-handed Pascal, who looked off-form while grinding out a 10-round decision over Aleksy Kuziemsky in December, didn’t want to remain inactive too long when Bute pulled out of their scheduled May meeting with a hand injury.
The showdown between Montreal’s two former world champions has been rescheduled for Jan. 18.
Now Pascal will face an aging opponent whose record was built mostly against opponents with losing rec- ords, including legend Reggie Strickland, who retired in 2005 with a career 66-276-17 mark. Blades lost by 11thround TKO in his only attempt at a world title to Zsolt Erdei in 2007.
“This fight is going to be good for me,” said Pascal. “It’s been a while since I fought, so I’m taking this one as a springboard to my next one, if the next one happens.
“That’s why I’m taking this seriously. This guy is a veteran. He’s been there, done that. He’s not coming here just to get a cheque. He’s coming here to kill me, so I need to be ready.”
The risk for Pascal is his history of hand and shoulder problems. If either is aggravated, it could mean another delay in the lucrative Bute bout.
Promoter Yvon Michel called it a “stay-busy” bout for Pascal that will be even more important if the Bute fight falls through.